Mossad director Meir Dagan

Meir Dagan is an Israeli military officer and current Director of the Mossad. Born Meir Huberman in the Soviet Union in 1945, Dagan is the son of Holocaust survivors. Dagan's family immigrated to Israel in 1950 and settled in Bat Yam, a coastal city south of Tel Aviv.

In 1963, Dagan enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served in the paratrooper brigade. In the 1967 Six Day War, he commanded a company which fought in Sinai, and after that he participated in the fighting in the Golan Heights. Dagan was decorated with the Medal of Courage in 1971.

In the early 1970s, Dagan commanded a temporarily-formed undercover commando unit, known as Sayeret Rimon, whose task was to combat the increasing insurgent violence in the Palestinian territories. It was the forerunner to other IDF Mistaravim units that were formed in the 1980s such as Sayeret Shimshon and Sayeret Duvdevan. The latter unit is the only one of its type that is at present still in operation.

During the 1982 Lebanon War, Dagan commanded the Barak Armored Brigade, and after that served as the commander of the Israeli unit with a connection to Lebanon. As the commander of this unit Dagan learned of Unit 504, an Israeli intelligence unit which operates agents, and founded a similar unit in connection to Lebanon.

In 1995, Dagan retired from the IDF. A year later, he was requested to return to public service by then Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres. He was added to the Israeli Headquarters for Fighting Terror as Ami Ayalon's Deputy. When Ayalon received the position of head of the Shabak, Dagan became head of the Headquarters. At the end of the 90s, Dagan joined the Israeli General Staff, as head of the operations division and special advisor to the head of the General Staff.

Dagan was appointed Director of the Mossad by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in August 2002, replacing outgoing Director Ephraim Halevy. He was reconfirmed until the end of 2008 by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in February 2007, and in June 2008 Olmert again extended his tenure until the end of 2009.

In mid 2007 Dagan had a "spat with the Deputy Director N, who is thought to be a candidate for replacing Dagan in late 2008. Dagan restored his former deputy T to the post and Dagan is likely to recommend T as his replacement.

During his military service Dagan was injured twice, and also won a decoration for his service. Dagan holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Haifa.